Anonymous leaks NSA documents linked to PRISM

After much of the world was shocked by allegations that the NSA was actively spying on citizens through the PRISM program, Anonymous, a group of internet activists, released a series of documents that they claim can prove the existence of the intelligence sharing network.

Despite the U.S government confirming the existence of the seven-year initiative, some of the companies that were allegedly on board quickly denied their involvement. Major tech corporations that include Microsoft, Apple, AOL, Yahoo, Facebook and Skype were supposedly providing exclusive government access to their servers and all of the customer information contained within.

Although many would argue that it is the NSA’s moral obligation to thwart potential attacks using any means necessary, the big concern is what could happen if this information were to fall into the wrong hands. After all, if Anonymous retrieved documents from an intelligence agency that should have unbeatable network security, what’s stopping criminal groups from doing the same.

According to reports, Anonymous released the documents using the sharing site Pastebin, accompanied by some familiar statements in the form of, “let these people know, that we will not be silenced.”

The documents appear to be from around 2008, which would roughly correspond to the start of the alleged PRISM program. The actual reports don’t provide much more information than what we already know. For example, no company names are mentioned, and the term “PRISM” is never directly alluded to. For those extra curious, the original Pastebin post, as well as links to the leaked documents can be found here.